Given the upcoming centenary of the Great War this year it is understandable that we find ourselves saturated with discussions of the tragedy that befell the European empires in 1914. Yet, despite this wide and encouraging engagement with the topic, the key focus of popular debate is centred on the many millions who died fighting […]
It is an interesting question whether or not the men who joined the Royal Navy in the late nineteenth century knew of or imagined the time-consuming and monotonous aspects the job entailed. Consideration of sailor diaries reveals that one of the most common, and indeed, disliked tasks aboard ship, was painting the vessel, inside and […]
John M. MacKenzie argued that early film transposed popular imperial propaganda from the music hall stage to the screen.[1] He cited the films of R. W. Paul and Cecil Hepworth on military life as being influential for amalgamating military spectacle and popular entertainment.[2] Often overlooked, filmmaker Alfred West from Gosport, Hampshire, was one of British […]
